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MY LIFE OF RADIO!

WE WILL START AT THE BEGINNING SINCE IT’S THE BEST PLACE.
MY FATHER WORKED AT CARSON’S FURNITURE in High Point, NC AND WE LIVED A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY ON FIRST STREET. FROM OUR HOUSE YOU COULD SEE THE WHPE-AM/FM TOWER RISING TOWARDS THE SKY. I ASK MY DAD WHAT IT WAS AND HE TOLD ME IT WAS THE WHPE TOWER SITE. MY INTEREST IN RADIO WAS STARTED AT THAT POINT IN THE MID 50’S. ABOUT SEVEN YEARS OLD. MY FASCINATION WITH RADIO RAMPED UP IN 1960 WHEN I WAS GIVING MY FIRST TRANSISTOR AM RADIO.

THEN ONE DAY MY DAD BOUGHT ME AN OLD RCA REEL TO REEL RECORDER AND I WOULD MAKE MY OWN TAPES AND RECORD STUFF OFF THE RADIO. I WOULD SPEND MY NIGHTS LISTENING TO WLS IN CHICAGO AND WABC IN NEW YORK AND OTHER LEGENDARY AM RADIO STATIONS. THE NEXT STEP WAS CITIZEN BAND RADIO IN 1963. THAT LED TO HAM RADIO. HOW EVER MY ENTRY IN TO HAM RADIO WAS DELAYED BY SEVERAL EVENTS. IN APRIL OF 1965, I GOT MY DRIVERS LICENSE AND IN SEPTEMBER THE NEXT DISTRACTION HIT. GIRLS, CARS AND HIGH POINT CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL HAD A 10-WATT EDUCATIONAL RADIO STATION SO I JOINED THEIR RADIO CLUB . MY RADIO CAREER STARTED IN 1965 AT THE HIGH SCHOOL STATION WHPS-FM. MY FIRST ON AIR SHIFT WAS 8 TO 9AM AND MY CHOSEN CAREER WAS SET. I STARTED WORKING AT WHPE-AM/FM IN 1969 AND HAVE BEEN IN BROADCASTING EVER SINCE. I HAVE HAD A GREAT RIDE IN THIS BUSINESS AND ENJOYED GOING TO WORK EVERY DAY. OTHER STATIONS I HAVE WORKED AT ARE: WLOE-WEAF-FM-EDEN,

WRQK/WPET GREENSBORO, WLXN-Q-94 LEXINGTON, WMFR AND WMAG IN HIGH POINT, WWGL-FM THAT BECAME HITZ-94 AND THEN TO MY CURRENT EMPLOYMENT AT LMA GENERAL MANAGER OF WIST-FM/WBLO IN HIGHT POINT NORTH CAROLINA. WRQK WAS THE FIRST FM ONLY ROCKER IN THE TRIAD AND I SOT TO SPEND 12 YEARS ON 98.7. THE HIGH LIGHT OF MY CAREER WAS BEING PART OF THE FIRST TWO MAN MORNING SHOW IN THE TRIAD ON FM THE WES & WILLIE SHOW ON WRQK. I CONSIDER MYSELF A BLESSED PERSON DUE TO THE FACT THAT I HAVE HAD A JOB THAT I LOVE AND ENJOY. I NEVER MINDED GETTING UP AT 3:30 IN THE MORNING TO DO A MORNING SHOW. HELD POSITIONS OF ON-AIR PERSONALITY, MUSIC DIRECTOR, PROGRAM DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS MANAGER, TALK SHOW HOST AND SEVERAL OTHERS. IT HAS BEEN A GREAT RIDE AND I THANK EVERYONE WHO HELPED MAKE IT HAPPEN. I DID NOT DO IT ALONE! MANY PEOPLE CONTRIBUTED TO MY SUCCESS. RADIO IS A TEAM EFFORT AND IT TAKES A GROUP OF GOOD EMPLOYEES TO MAKE IT HAPPEN RIGHT. YOU EITHER WIN TOGETHER OR YOU LOOSE TOGETHER.

I GOT MY NOVICE HAM RADIO TICKET IN 1977 AND NOW HOLD AN ADVANCED CLASS LICENSE AND THE CALL OF WJ4DX. I GET TO TALK TO PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD AND MAKE NEW FRIENDS I WILL NEVER MEET IN PERSON. OVER THE YEARS I HAVE ENJOYED HAM RADIO AS A GREAT HOBBY. RADIO HAS BEEN A HUGE PART OF MY LIFE SINCE MY EARLY CHILD HOOD YEARS. ONE OTHER PERSON IS TRULY RESPONSIBLE FOR MY SUCCESS AND THAT IS MY LATE WIFE LINDA. SHE GAVE ME THE SUPPORT ONE NEED’S IN MAKING DECISIONS AND HELPING ME IMPROVE MY SOUND OVER THE YEARS. THIS CAREER WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT HER SUPPORT.

THAT’S IT IN A NUT SHELL AS THEY SAY. THE PAST 45 YEARS SEEM LIKE ONLY A FLASH, AND IT AIN’T OVER YET. THE QUOTE "FIND A JOB YOU LOVE AND YOU WILL NEVER WORK A DAY IN YOUR LIFE” IS TRUE. THANKS TO RADIO I HAVE LIVED THAT DREAM.
Wes
Radio Journeyman